House to Home

Do your kids think that you are totally the coolest? Unless they are under the age of 9, likely you are shaking your head no. Let’s put it this way, when you tell them that they don’t need the pair of $120 designer jeans, do they roll their eyes and assume that you don’t know what it is like to be cool? It’s okay you aren’t alone in this. When I came across “11 Frugal Habits of the Super Rich”, I thought, “hey, now I have some ammo”. If you too need to be able to tell your child that Beyoncé likes to save money or Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) wears the same thing all the time then you are in the right place! Below is a list of 11 frugal habits of the super-rich:

It’s that time of year when CPAs (certified public accountants) trade in week night family dinners for quick take out options… that’s right! Tax Time! Some people love it because they get a nice chunk of change back from Uncle Sam via a refund, whereas others who owe taxes, are less enthused. No matter the category you find yourself in, the goal tends to be the same; keep as much money in your pocket as possible! So, when I came across an article on Realtor.com that touted, “5 Sweet Tax Deductions When Selling Your Home”, I knew I had to share!

Stephanie at Six Figures Under shared what I think is the greatest illustration about our thinking behind financial training; “If you were totally new to knitting, but wanted to learn how to make the cute washcloths your friend was always making, would you want her to give you a general overview and not bother you with specifics or would you want her to sit down with you and show you her secrets step-by-step?”. Genius, am I right? For so many of us, we use general terms and overviews without getting into the nitty gritty of finances. But the more knowledge and experience we can give our kids the more successful they are likely to be, this is especially true when it comes to their financial future.

We have spent the last few weeks talking about the consequences of student debt on our children’s futures. But if you are in a situation like mine where the decision was already made and you have accumulated a considerable amount of student debt, you are left wondering how that might limit your future. One might wonder, “could I buy a house someday despite my debt?” In fact, an article on Bankrate quotes the managing director of survey research and communications for NAR (National Association of Realtors), Jessica Lautz, “of those who don’t own a home, 83 percent of those say that student loan debt is holding them back from purchasing a home.”

Do you know what the two largest consumer debt amounts are comprised of? If you have been paying attention to these Piggy Bank blog posts over the last couple weeks you can likely guess one of them. Americans owe more than $1.3 trillion in outstanding student loans, according to Consumer Reports. They go onto tell us that, it’s “the second largest consumer debt, surpassed only by mortgages”. While a college education can cost as much as a mortgage they vary in ability to manage.

Discussion of which college is the right fit is often an emotional quest for the student and parents alike. There are so many options, liberal arts school, large research university, small school close to home—guidance counselors talk about finding a school that offers an atmosphere that fits the student and suits their academic pursuits. One aspect of selecting a college that can sometimes be overlooked or kept as more of an afterthought is, how will the costs be covered? Losing sight of the financial consequences of their decisions can leave families of college-bound students scrambling to figure out how they will pay for it all.

Today’s topic is something that is near to my heart. Student loan debt has had a significant effect on my life and the lives of many other Americans. In fact, “today, there is a student debt class like no other: about 42 million Americans bearing $1.3 trillion in student debt”, according to Consumer Reports, “that’s altering lives, relationships, and even retirement.” This is found especially true in our industry of home financing, Ryan Ramsey, one of Stockton Mortgage’s top Mortgage Bankers recounts, “I have had many conversations with college graduates, that due to student loan debt, it will be years or decades before they will be able to buy a home.” Obtaining loans to cover one’s education costs is often a decision made early in our adult lives and sadly, as mentioned several times in this series of blog posts, young people don’t have enough knowledge when it comes to their finances to make solid, confident decisions. So, we find that many end up in a situation far from what we imagined—what we trusted, our college education, to give us a better future than that of our parents, leaves us with a large monthly bill and fear of inability to pay. In fact, Consumer Reports shares that many do end up defaulting in their payments, “one in four borrowers are behind in their payments, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with an estimated 7.6 million in default.”

As parents, we all need a little encouragement from time to time. Sometimes it’s hard enough to keep our own lives together much less raise a functional human being who has good habits established as they enter adulthood. Let’s be honest, sometimes we feel like, “well, at least I kept my child alive today”. Success stories can go a long way to encourage us as parents to keep trying because we can see that effort does pay off! That is the case with BreAnna; she was given a budget at the age of 15 and now she is a frugal lifestyle blogger living in New York. She’s quoted as saying, “I teach people how to spend less so they can live more”.

Twenties, what a weird age group to discuss. There probably aren’t many standards which define life in your twenties. Take for example, my experience in my early 20’s versus my husbands; I lived at home, went to college and worked to cover my car payment and spending money. My husband on the other hand, moved out at 18, got married and worked to support his young wife and their son. I wanted to share my thinking on this because of the generality associated with the title of this blog post. What it should have been called was, “budgeting for young adults who are still living at home!” For this we are going to take a look at Sami’s budget and how she was able to save up money to move out and achieve that, “sweet freedom” before her family drove her “to the brink of insanity”. To create a budget, she needed to consider how much she would spend in the following areas; personal care, shopping, gas, savings, going out/ date nights and emergency funds.

I’m going to be honest with you all, I do not care for financial discussions. I don’t like spending money, I don’t like having to think about saving it… I think I’d be perfectly content living in a world with a bartering system or some sort of utopian society where we all just worked for the good of all and money does not exist. Sadly, that is not how this world is and therefore we must be financially literate which means our kids do too—as much as we hate talking about money and having to think about it, it is a part of our lives. But today, let’s look at a topic that is more in line with my favorites, crafting!!! It does still have a hint of financial education but the crafting outweighs the financial aspect so it is super easy to stomach.